Health Check
Episodes
How long will we live in future?
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Life expectancy is expected to increase by almost five years around the world by 2050, according to new research. The Global Burden of Disease Study s...
Medical Innovations
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we’re looking at examples of innovative thinking in medicine. A new, non-invasive device could help people with paralysis to regain movem...
Whooping cough on the rise
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We look at the reasons behind a recent surge in Whooping cough cases in Europe and Asia. Also on the program: why are women more susceptible to heat-r...
Conflict's impact on a neglected disease
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A research center in Sudan had brought hope for neglected disease mycetoma, we hear from a mycetoma expert how the conflict has affected research. Als...
What’s happening with girls’ mental health?
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There's been a lot of coverage in the media around the world about the mental health difficulties facing boys, but looking at figures for mental healt...
Is turbulence injuring more and more flyers?
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After a number of incidents around the world so far this year that have left dozens of flyers needing hospital treatment, we look at how a rise in air...
Nigeria rolls out world’s first 5-in-1 meningitis vaccine
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After a 50% jump in meningitis cases reported across Africa last year, Nigeria is becoming the first country to roll out a new 5-in-1 meningitis vacci...
How we hope
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Claudia Hammond presents a special edition of Health Check from the Northern Ireland Science Festival, where she’s joined by a panel of experts to d...
Puerto Rico declares dengue fever emergency
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As the recent surge in cases of dengue fever continues across Latin America and the Caribbean, Puerto Rico declares a public health emergency. Claudia...
Pig kidney transplanted into patient
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The latest on the first procedure to transplant a kidney from a pig into a living patient. Claudia Hammond is joined in the studio by Dr Graham Easton...
Should we stop talking about long Covid?
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Most people with Covid-19 make a full recovery within 12 weeks, but some patients have experienced ongoing symptoms for much longer. This has become k...
A promising new cancer treatment
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The toxic mineral asbestos is still mined across the world, despite it’s much documented links to cancer. Now there are promising results from a new...
One billion obese people
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
More than one billion people in the world are now living with obesity. The number of people who are underweight has also fallen according to a new glo...
Junior doctors strike in South Korea
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
More than 1,600 junior doctors have been on strike in South Korea in a dispute about working conditions and Government plans to add more medical schoo...
Global Trade v Health Equality
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Research shows that large numbers of Covid deaths could have been prevented if people in low and middle income countries had better access to vaccines...
Dengue outbreak in Latin America
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Carnival hits the streets in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this week. As well as preparations for the crowds and colourful processions, health authorities ha...
Getting vaccinations to remote South Sudan
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The hospital in Old Fangak, South Sudan is extremely remote; it’s a place that can only be accessed by boat, using the river Nile. The airstrip has ...
Surviving Noma disease
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There are neglected tropical diseases, and then there is Noma, a severe gangrenous disease which tends to affect 2 to 6-year-olds and has a 90% fatali...
Cape Verde eliminates malaria
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It has been another ‘milestone week’ for the fight against malaria. The archipelago island nation Cape Verde became the third country in Africa to...
Endurance
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever considered rowing across the Atlantic? How about making it even more challenging by doing it whilst wearing an ECG monitor and filling i...
Are outcomes better with female surgeons?
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A recent study from Canada has found that patients treated by female surgeons have a lower likelihood of adverse postoperative outcomes (death, hospit...
2024 in global health
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A treaty to help the world cope with the next pandemic, new ways to treat undernutrition and a last goodbye to polio. Could these be some of the healt...
A year in health in review
27 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As 2024 draws ever closer, Claudia Hammond looks back at the medical news, trends and advances which the last twelve months have brought us. She is jo...
When will we have an HIV vaccine?
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With the failure of the PrEPVacc trial in Southern and Eastern Africa, HIV researchers are concerned that an HIV vaccine will not be developed before ...
Closer to a cure for morning sickness
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Morning sickness affects 4 in 5 women at some point in pregnancy but until now we’ve known little about why. Now researchers in the USA, Sri Lanka ...
How do we know when a mystery illness is serious?
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On Health Check we often cover the outbreak of a mystery illness or unusual health event that has occurred somewhere across the globe. But how do we k...
New Zealand backtracks on smoking ban
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When former Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern passed legislation to reduce access to tobacco products, the policy was held up as an interna...
Gene editing treatment approved for sickle cell
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The UK has become the first country in the world to approve a gene editing treatment for people with the genetic conditions sickle cell disease and be...
Vaccinating children against chickenpox
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The committee that advises on vaccinations in the UK has recommended that chickenpox is added to the standard list of childhood vaccinations; somethin...
A drug to prevent breast cancer
08 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week it was announced in the United Kingdom that women at high risk of breast cancer will be able to take a drug, Anastrozole, which is usually u...
Warnings over antibiotic resistance in children
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Antibiotics are becoming increasingly ineffective at treating common childhood infections, according to a new study. The research, led by the Universi...
A musician’s story of coping with schizophrenia
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Talented guitarist, Hamish Barclay, was given steroids when he was a teenager to treat a kidney problem. He then experienced the rare side effect of p...
Cholera cases surge in Zimbabwe
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
More than 100 people are suspected to have died in Zimbabwe in the most recent outbreak of cholera there. Almost 5,000 possible cases have been report...
US proposes world first policy to reduce STIs
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
‘Doxy PEP’, or doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis, is where a common antibiotic is given to someone shortly after having unprotected sex to avo...
Malaria vaccine backed by WHO
04 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A vaccine for malaria that can be produced cheaply on a large scale has been recommended for use by the World Health Organisation. It was developed by...
The deadly practice of gum lancing
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Gum lancing is a tradition practiced on babies in some parts of the world. It’s done with good intentions, and involves extracting the teeth of infa...
Could global Aids program be cut?
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The PEPFAR scheme was launched by George W Bush in 2003 to provide HIV and Aids relief around the world. Officials say it has since saved more than 25...
Do men have a friendship problem?
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The author Max Dickins was preparing to propose to his girlfriend when he came to a realisation: he didn’t have anyone he felt he could ask to be hi...
Opioid overdose antidote made available in US
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With deaths from opioid overdoses rocketing to more than 100,000 people each year, the US has moved to make the drug Naloxone available to buy in phar...
What happened to babies with Zika virus
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In March 2015, Brazil reported a large outbreak of the Zika virus infection. Over the next year, the disease became a global medical emergency. Thousa...
Disgraced surgeon appeals prison sentence
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When former transplant surgeon Paolo Macchiarini first implanted a synthetic trachea into a patient more than a decade ago, it was hailed as a breakth...
Contaminated cough syrup found in Iraq
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Iraq is the latest country to report a batch of contaminated cough syrup according to the World Health Organisation. It’s the latest in a string of ...
A closer look at leprosy
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the week that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that leprosy could now be endemic in the South-eastern United States, Claudia ...
Henrietta Lacks’ family settle lawsuit
02 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Henrietta Lacks was only 31 years old when she died from cervical cancer in 1951. While she was in hospital in the USA, her cells were harvested witho...
Playing catch up on childhood immunisations
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The World Health Organisation and UNICEF say global immunisation services reached 4 million more children in 2022 compared to the previous year, after...
A new era for Alzheimer’s drugs?
19 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Just months after the ‘momentous’ announcement of the first drug shown to slow the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, the results of a global trial...
Sickle cell disease: Fighting for the future
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Sickle cell is not all that we are – Sickle Cell is solvable.” Lea Kilenga Bey from Kenya founded the non-profit Africa Sickle Cell Organisatio...
Drumming for a healthy life
05 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since early times, the drum has been part of human society. But have you ever considered how drumming might actually improve our physical and mental h...
The future of HIV research in Africa
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
African HIV research now makes up almost a third of total research being conducted into the virus. A new study highlights how it has increased from ju...
Healthcare under threat in Myanmar
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When the Myanmar military staged a coup d’état in February 2021, many healthcare workers became the first government employees to react, announcing...
A step closer to a Chikungunya vaccine
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne disease which spreads to humans and can cause fever and severe joint pain, sometimes felt long term. It’s most commo...
China's Covid-19 lockdown: What happened next?
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When China abruptly ended its tough lockdown policy in December 2022, Covid cases in the country rose rapidly. The Government’s official death toll ...
Uganda's anti-gay law and healthcare
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As Uganda approves some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ legislation in the world, we hear from Dr Chloe Orkin, Professor of infection and inequities at Que...
What can we do about back pain?
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As new research is released showing that lower back pain is the leading cause of disability across the world, we ask Professor of musculoskeletal heal...
Home testing kits for disease screening
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Home testing kits for screening people for signs of diseases have become more and more common in recent years. Now a study in the US shows that mailin...
Giving small babies a better start
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One in four babies around the world is born too small. Either preterm, small for gestational age, or with a low birthweight. We hear from maternal hea...
Keeping hospitals open in Khartoum
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Medical professionals in Khartoum tell us how they are managing to continue their work to treat people in hospitals despite the ongoing violence in Su...
Why we need more black doctors
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Addressing racial diversity amongst doctors can improve outcomes for people in their local communities. We speak to Dr Monica Peek, Doctor of Internal...
Malaria vaccines approved first in West Africa
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
More than a quarter of the world’s malaria cases happen in Nigeria according to the World Health Organisation. This week the country became the seco...
New way of giving lifesaving drug in childbirth
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers in Zambia and Pakistan have shown that a drug which helps to stop bleeding in childbirth is safe to give by injection into a muscle - maki...
Women aren’t being promoted in healthcare
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Women do 90% of the work in global healthcare but hold only a quarter of leadership roles. We hear from an American doctor who says patients are missi...
Could armpit sweat help tackle anxiety?
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Here on Health Check, we’re always sniffing out the best global health research for our listeners – and this week is no different. We’ll hear ab...
How giving babies peanut butter could cut allergy
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Babies, peanut butter and allergies; Psychologist Professor Elaine Fox on how to navigate change; how changing the clocks twice a year affects our hea...
Obesity drug: New hope for weight loss?
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Diet and exercise” has been the weight-loss mantra for decades but a drug designed for diabetes patients could now offer hope to people who are o...
How to cope with earthquake trauma
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A month on from the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, we assess what kind of impact the disaster may have had on mental health. We hear fro...
Vaccines: A tale of the unexpected
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We delve into the science of how some vaccines could have unexpected effects beyond their intended target. They are called “non-specific effects” ...
Supporting Ukrainian children
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From human milk banks to babies born during conflict, this week we're all about the health of children and newborns.The most vulnerable premature babi...
Biting back: The fight against snakebite
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Venomous snakebites are responsible for up to 150,000 deaths a year around the world – and they also leave around half a million survivors with life...
Can heat affect mental health?
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can changes in the weather have an impact on our mental health? We go to Bangladesh in South Asia, a country on the front line of the impacts of clima...
Back from the brink
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week we’re dedicating the programme to a common medical emergency – one that can be deadly within minutes without the right help to hand. A c...
After the floods
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Six months on from the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history, a medic in eastern Balochistan describes what he is seeing daily.Khalid Saleem, who wor...
The ‘Endo-Monster inside me’
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s episode we hear from two women who talk about what life is like with endometriosis, an incredibly common but debilitating condition w...
Family’s gene therapy journey
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s episode of Health Check, we meet the Poulin family who live in Thailand. They tell us about their long quest to have their little gir...
Regret
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Claudia Hammond explores the psychology of regret with an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival. What role do rueful thoughts on "what might hav...
Can you knit away your worries?
28 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Many people say that knitting or crochet helped ease their anxiety during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Claire Anketell set up free Yarn for Mental Health c...
Biggest health stories of the year
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been another busy year on the BBC’s Health Check, where we’ve brought you the health and science stories that matter to you from around the...
Liver drug could be repurposed for Covid
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve grown used to hearing about potential new treatments for Covid-19 – well here’s another. Researchers in Britain have, by chance, discovere...
How words can save lives
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Claudia meets Professor Elizabeth Stokoe author of 'Crisis Talk' whose research shows when preventing a suicide, that words really do matter and can s...
'Historic' turning point for Alzheimer's
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After years of setbacks, the announcement of the first drug to slow the brain's decline in Alzheimer's is being hailed as "momentous". What makes this...
How to make surgery safer
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ask 40,000 surgeons from around the world what they would pick to scientifically investigate and what do they choose? They voted for a new trial to es...
Genetic disorders and US abortion bans
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ayoka from Atlanta, Georgia in the US is desperate to have a baby and her family is helping to pay for her IVF treatment. But Ayoka knows that she car...
Psychological nudges for HIV treatment
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
South Africa's anti-retroviral programme to treat HIV infection is the largest in the world with 5.5 million people in treatment. It’s transformed t...
Livers that live longer than we do
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Claudia Hammond discovers that some livers have the potential for extraordinary longevity and after a long life in a transplant donor, can survive for...
Long Covid – the latest
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Health-threatening fungal infections are on the rise and the World Health Organisation identifies the pathogens which pose the greatest risk to human ...
Women and children’s health hit by disasters and Covid
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After decades of progress – how can we stop the pandemic, climate change and conflict around the world from turning back the clock when it comes to ...
Can a new star system help us to eat healthily?
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re trying to work out what’s healthy to eat and what to avoid – there’s a new five star rating system. Researchers in the US have looke...
'Historic' claims for new Alzheimer’s drug
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There’s encouraging news about a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease following years of disappointing drug trials. The drug lecanemab is a...
Floods spreading disease in Pakistan
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Waterborne diseases are on the rise in Sindh province in Pakistan where water levels are still high after record floods. BBC Urdu’s Riaz Sohail visi...
Egypt’s hepatitis C success story
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Egypt has almost eliminated the 'silent killer' hepatitis C – less than a decade after having the highest number of cases of the virus in the world....
Malaria vaccine effective
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The trial of a malaria vaccine in Burkina Faso has revealed promising results, protecting young children from being infected by the parasite for a sec...
China approves first inhaled Covid vaccine
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
China has approved the first nasal Covid vaccine inhaled up the nose. James Gallagher, BBC Health and Science correspondent explains how a sniffed vac...
Statins rarely cause muscle pain
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Statins save lives by lowering the level of 'bad' cholesterol in our blood, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. But warnings about potenti...
Deaths cut with recommended Ebola treatments
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the week that a case of Ebola has been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the WHO calls for support to help at-risk countries to make l...
Transplant hope as kidney blood groups swapped
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A new Covid vaccine – which targets both the original virus and one of the latest Omicron variants – has been approved for use in the UK. About ha...
“Virtual” hospital visits cut relatives’ distress
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the pandemic when intensive care units were full and visitors were not allowed some families kept in touch using phones and tablets. A new study in...
Can you be a kind boss?
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the cut throat world of work, can bosses be kind? Claudia Hammond unpicks the psychological evidence from around the world to find out if it’s po...
Pure kindness
27 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What can the latest research tell us about whether there is any such thing as pure kindness? Claudia Hammond meets a man who has done an exceptionall...
Marburg virus cases confirmed
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As Marburg virus cases are confirmed in Ghana, Dr Graham Easton discusses the importance of a swift response. BBC Africa correspondent Charles Mgbolu ...
New Covid booster recommendations
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As Covid cases rise new recommendations from European health agencies back over 60s to get boosted. Professor Monica Lakhanpaul from University Colleg...
Handy third thumb
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Claudia Hammond is at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London looking at the latest medical research. Claudia speaks to Professor Tamar ...